Note: A placement exam will be required when you arrive on site.

Advanced

This course is designed for students who have completed or tested out of a minimum of four semesters (or six quarters) of college-level Spanish. However, students must take a placement exam to determine the course level into which they will be able to enroll.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this course, on a fundamental level, is to deepen the knowledge and and develop the practical use of Spanish sounds. The course also strives to examine in detail the fundamental differences between distinct phonetics, especially with regards to articulatory and acoustic principles. Also examined will be essential concepts of theoretical phonology and its applied theory for the description of the behavior of vocalic and consonantal subsystems in Spanish, including certain basic notions related to accent and intonation of Spanish words. Also a major component of the course are the correct management of phonetic alphabets and the students’ capacity to develop phonetic and phonologic transcriptions.

PROGRAM

1. Phonetics and Phonology
1.1 Communication and the phonic aspects of the language:
1.2 Distinction between phonetics and phonology: concepts and fundamental units.
1.3 The definition of phonetics and the definition of phonology.

2. Acoustic Phonetics
2.1 Sound, its components and its acoustic and physical characteristics
2.1.1 Components of the simple sound wave.
2.1.2 Components of the complex sound wave
2.1.3 Physical qualities of sound: quantity, intensity, tone, timbre
2.2 Spectrographic samples and there acoustic interpretation.
2.2.1 Acoustic analysis equipment
2.2.2 Acoustic characteristics and traits

3. Perceptive Phonetics
3.1 Physiology of the ear. General characteristics.
3.2 Perception.
3.2.1 The perception of sonorous components.
3.2.2 The perception of speaking

4. Articulatory Phonetics
4.1 Phonation and articulation.
4.2 Articulation criteria for the classification of sounds.
4.2.1 Place of articulation.
4.2.2 method of articulation.
4.2.3 Articulation sounds
4.2.4 Tension and looseness of articulation.

5. Phonology
5.1 Phonologic units: phonemes and distinctive traits.
5.2 Descriptive methods in phonology.
5.2.1 Recognition of variants
5.2.2 Identification of variants: free and complimentary distribution.
5.3 Phonologic oppositions.
5.4 Structural classification of phonologic oppositions
5.5 Neutralization and archiphonemes.
5.6 Correlations
5.7 Elements of phonosyntaxis

6. The Vowel Subsystem of Spanish
6.1 Description of vowel sounds
6.2 Vowel groups. Dipthongs, triphthongs.
6.3 Vowel subsystem.
6.3.1 Vowel phonemes of Spanish. Pertinent traits.
6.3.2 Semivowels and semi-consonants

7. The Consonantal Subsystem of Spanish
7.1 Description of consonantal sounds
7.2 Consonantal groupings
7.3 Consonantal subsystem

8. The Syllable
8.1 The syllable from the phonetic point of view.
8.2 The syllable from the phonologic point of view.
8.3 The syllabic structures of Spanish.

9. The Suprasegments
9.1 Accents
9.1.1 The nature of the accent.
9.1.2 Degrees of accents.
9.1.3 Functions of the accent.
9.2 Intonation.
9.2.1 Nature of intonation.
9.2.2 The functions of intonation.

10. Phonetic and Phonologic Transcription

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ALARCOS, E. (1981): Fonología española. Madrid. Gredos.
HIDALGO, A. Y QUILIS, M. (2002): Fonética y Fonología españolas. Valencia. Tirant Lo Blanch.
MARTÍNEZ CELDRÁN, E. (1984): Fonética. Barcelona. Teide.
MARTÍNEZ CELDRÁN, E. (1989): Fonología general y española. Barcelona. Teide.
NAVARRO TOMÁS, T. (1982): Manual de pronunciación española. Madrid. CSIC.
QUILIS, A. (1985): El comentario fonético y fonológico de textos. Madrid. Arco Libros.
QUILIS, A. (1993): Tratado de fonética y fonología españolas. Madrid. Gredos.
QUILIS, A. (1997): Principios de fonética y fonología españolas. Madrid. Arco Libros.